Instrument panels, alternately referred to as dashboards, are situated within a passenger compartment of a vehicle and positioned facing the vehicle occupants, primarily a driver/operator, for easy readability and accessibility of the various instruments housed within the instrument panel. Common instrumentation found in a vehicle passenger compartment includes, for example, speedometers, odometers, tachometers, fuel gauges, and indicator lamps. An instrument panel may also house such other non-metering devices as air bags, glove compartments or boxes, radios, CD/DVD/cassette players, navigation screens, clocks, ashtrays, speakers, climate controls, and air vents. Instrument panels are typically formed with protective padding and other external trim material which is contoured and styled to provide a fully-assembled instrument panel with an aesthetically-pleasing appearance. Instrument gauges and meters are typically faced with a transparent material for protection from damage, dirt, and/or tampering.
Since the aforementioned instruments and devices may contribute a substantial amount of combined weight and mass to the vehicle, the instrument panel is therefore supported by a substantially rigid substructure positioned behind and beneath the visible portions of the panel. Support structures are often constructed from stamped and welded steel sheet metal assemblies and may include a plurality of supporting brackets or braces having a sufficient amount of surface area to allow the support structure to be attached to the vehicle and the instruments and other devices to be securely fastened within the panel.